They have a lot of benefits for parents too. Before your baby is rolling and crawling everywhere, you can safely put your LO on their activity gym, knowing that they are in safe place. This gives you some extra time to do other things around the house or whatever else you need to do. So either way, it is a win-win for both, babies and parents.

Here you’ll find best baby activity gyms that will not only keep your baby safe and happy. But also give you some much-needed hands-free time.

Great Entertainment for a Baby and a Break for Parents

Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym is a great entertaining baby play gym which you can spread out on the floor, lay the baby down so they can entertain themselves before she or he can even sit. And finally you can have some time for yourself 🙂 or be able to do some much-needed work around the house 🙁For your child entertaiment it comes with two two bars that have four toy attachments to hang the delightful toys for your LO enjoyment or something they can play with to keep them busy 🙂 While you as a busy mom need to focus on other things. One of the things that I personally never forget was to be able to see my child enjoying themselves while I was busy taking care of myself or doing other things knowing that my LO was safe and happy.

Moreover, it has soft durable fabric that can be cleaned with a cloth or be a washed in a machine depending on how much of a mess your LO is capable of doing. Each child is different but knowing that this baby gym can be spot clean or machine washed will give you that peace of mind that no matter what happens you’ll be able to take care of it.

Let’s take a look at the details so you can have a clear picture of what you’ll be buying:

Activity Mat: For most parents, the mat is just fine and can be used directly on a hardwood floor or carpet. However, for some, it wasn’t padded enough. When it comes to details like this it is perfectly understandable that some parents will agree and some disagree and use their own judgment what’s best for their LO. Those who thought that the mat wasn’t padded enough were able to solve it by simply adding an extra blanket underneath to make it more comfortable. Again, this is your personal judgment, as only you as a parent knows what’s best for your LO. The mat is made to fit all, however not all will agree with it. So if you feel that your baby needs an extra caution. By all means use whatever ever it takes to make them comfortable. However, for most parents, it wasn’t a big deal after all.

Another thing to keep in mind that as your baby grows, at one point they’ll be able to roll out of it just like my boy did. It’s something unavoidable So when you reach that point most definitely you’ll need some sort of blanket to ensure that they’ll end up on a soft surface instead of a hard floor or carpet. With a LO starting to explore their surroundings you just want to make sure that they’ll be as safe as possible.

The size is about 29″ length and width and sturdy when opened.

Safety: Speaking of safety and sturdiness. As a parent, you want to make sure that it is as sturdy and as safe as possible. So you can rest assured that this ply mat will not put your LO at risk. Again for an adult, it may not feel good enough but for a baby, it is perfectly fine. It will hold just fine from any abuse from a growing baby.

Moreover, this baby play gym comes with a “tummy time” pillow that’s not attached to the mat. Meaning that you can place it wherever the baby is laying.

Just Toys. No Music No Lights: For interaction, the toys rattle and crinkle and there’s a mirror too but nothing else. The toys are well placed and will for sure catch your baby’s attention.

It does not come with music and /or lights. Not all babies are fazed by music and lights. Some will be perfectly OK with simple toys and some will need more … let’s say to entertain them. Although this mat is basic but gives you plenty of opportunities to add extra toys if needed 🙂 Toys that your baby enjoys.

Besides that, you may already have too many toys that play music and lights and want something that doesn’t make too much noise and appreciate to have some quiet moments while the baby is busy playing. This is a good choice.

Personally, I started using it when my boy was around 2 months old. And when he was around 8 – 9 months old, he still loved it.

Care: As a busy mom obviously having things nice and clean is important to you. When it comes to this mat, in short, it is easy to clean. Not exactly waterproof but it is water resistant which is a good thing. At this price point, you can’t expect more than that. You can machine wash it in cold water in the gentle cycle and air dry it.

Since it is water resistant you can spot clean if needed with a cloth. It keeps its shape and dries quickly. And holds up very well after many washes or any abuse from a baby.

Portable: It is lightweight and easy to move from room to room. You can use just the mat or the mat with the arches and toys. You’ll love the fact that it folds for easy storage so you can put it away between uses. Easy to transported as well.

Overall: Inexpensive and excellent baby gym. It comes with the right amount of toys that will engage your baby’s senses. And keep them happy.

Deluxe Baby Gym with Melodies and Lights

Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym is fun, entertaining and stimulating. Perfect if you need something to occupy your baby and at the same time have plenty of fun. It’s one of the best selling baby activity mats out there. The features are unique and colorful and give the baby lots of options to play with. Also, it is big enough for a baby to move or roll around in it.

Very versatile too, as we know babies don’t have a long attention span, however, this one allows you to switch and shake things around to keep them engaged.

Activity Mat: One of the best things about this activity gym is that it’s large so the baby has a lot of room to play. It’s approximately 3’x 3 and the arch is about 18 to 20″ high (20 x 32.5 x 32.5 inches (WxHxD) . The texture is smooth, but not smooth enough to be “slippery”. So your child can play on it safely. It works great on all types of floors, carpet, tiles or hardwood floor.

Toys, Music, and Lights: When it comes to a baby activity gym, you want to make sure that it will provide enough entertainment for your baby, stimulate their senses and at the same time and give you the flexibility to switch things around in the event they’ll get bored.

We all know that babies have a different attention span, some shorter, some longer, it depends on their individual personality, so having the flexibility to switch things around gives you an extra option to keep your child engaged. And this gym allows you to do just that.

It comes with 10 activities and linkable and detachable toys. There is plenty of room to add more toys if needed or switch them around. Although the butterflies on the top don’t spin automatically, this isn’t a bad thing as it forces your child to reach out and interact with them, trying to move them manually instead of lying down and watching them spin. They are pretty, bright, attractive and for sure will get the attention of your LO.

This baby play gym is designed in such way that your child can interact with it instead of passively watching it, which is more educational as it engages all their senses.

If the toys aren’t enough to hold the baby’s attention, there is also music and lights too.

The music has 3 settings plus volume control with low and high settings:

Music, lights and nature sounds

Nature sounds and lights

Baby-activated music. The lights and music respond to baby’s movement

You can set it to very peaceful or fun and lively. There are a variety of sounds, calm rain-forest sounds, happy music with a rain forest beat, jungle sounds, birds, and bees. It plays for 20 minutes. The changing light comes on with the music at the same time. Unfortunately, you can’t put just the lights or just the music ON, they go together. But this wasn’t a problem for parents.

There is baby-activated music is baby touch activated and it plays for about 30 seconds. The sound quality for a baby gadget is pretty good.

For the sound and music, you’ll need 3- C batteries (not included). On average, they last pretty long, but of course, this depends on usage.

Portable: Easy to move between rooms. It folds easy, the mat is detachable and folds, the arches flatten against each other but they don’t fold. It comes with a plastic cover that has handle and snaps for storage or transport.

Care: You can spot clean with sponge little laundry detergent or machine wash the mat inside a pillow case in cold
water on gentle cycle and air dry or tumble dry low.

Age limit: You can use it as early as 3 weeks old. But there is no age limit. This is one of the products where a baby will set the limit, eventually, they’ll outgrow it and lose interest in it. Most probably when they start walking and exploring the house. To get the most out of it, best is to buy it as early as possible, not the best purchase if your child is already 7 months old.

Overall: If you’re looking for something that’s stimulating, has fun colors, pleasant music, lights, and plenty of toys to play with, this is another good choice.

Engaging, Interactive and Portable

Baby Einstein Caterpillar and Friends Play Gym will provide your baby with an engaging area of endless fun and discovery. Colorful and comes with a good variety of toys to stimulate and interact with for your LO. The loops allow you to add some of your own or remove toys to keep the playtime enjoyable and engaging. Very soft, comfortable material can be easily moved or folded and take it with you any place you go.One of the best features of this baby gym is that as your child gets older the arches and toys can be removed and the activity gym can be used separately. Which gives you an extra ‘mileage’ for your money.

Great for play and tummy time.

Activity Mat: Colorful and engaging and will hold the attention of your baby. It has beautiful images to introduce new vocabulary to your LO.

It is very comfortable on a carpet, however, some parents that it may be a bit thin to use on a hardwood floor alone and they lay a blanket under it to make it more comfortable until the baby starts rolling over and shuffling, after that they use it as it is.

The dimensions of the mat are approximately 32 x 32 and 16 inches high.

The fabric is a smooth polyester blend top, it has kind of silky feeling to it which allows a baby to rolled over and also great for those inevitable spits up as it wipes off easily. The quality of the fabric and construction are great.

Toys: The 6 hanging toys it comes with are good enough to keep baby easily entertained but just in case this isn’t enough it also has several other loops to add your own toys or flash cards or to switch things around to make it more fun and stimulate thinking and learning. Moreover, they jiggle and jangle and make noise which also attracts baby’s attention.

With the removable toys, you have full flexibility how you want to arrange the gym for your child or even add more toys. You can attach them using the plastic rings to either the arch or the mat’s sewn in loops for tummy or play time so the baby can work those belly muscles 🙂

It’s very sturdy. The toys can be attached up high for back play or to the mat for tummy time.

Music and lights: Another great thing about this set is the star which can be attached to the arch or the mat, it provides bright colorful light shows and plays music as well.

It plays 8 classic melodies, the music is very pleasant, even parents enjoy listening to it. The sound level is adjustable too. The music can be played continuously for about 20+ minutes or be baby motion activated when they kick the bars or pull on the toys. You’ll have good laugh seeing your baby trying to ‘talk’ to the star 🙂

Batteries: The star that plays music and lights is the only one that needs 3 AA batteries. They last pretty long.

Portable: Another great thing about this product is that it folds up very nicely which is great for travel or can be easily picked up and move anywhere. Just keep in mind that the bars/arches don’t break down into smaller pieces.

The bars detach from the bottom and the mat easy folds as well. Very easy to setup or take-down.

Care: The mat wipes up easy for spit ups or can be washed in a machine.

Age range: It could be used from 2-3 months to around 7-8 months old.

Overall: This fun and colorful baby play gym is an excellent choice. The variety of toys and the movement-activated star that lights and sounds will keep your baby’s attention and more importantly stimulate their senses. And will make your baby happy.

What’s great about it is that there are 3 different way to use it depending on how old your baby is:

1st stage is called overhead discovery which is perfect for small babies who can’t turn, crawl or sit up.

The toys hanging above their head are colorful, sensory friendly, engaging and encourage a visual development of your child.

This stage is also great for a development of motors skills as your baby begins to try to reach or kick the toys.

It has extra loops to add more toys and using the rings you can actually make the toys are reachable even for the LO so sh/he can touch or pull them down.

The sound and motion the toys make like jingle, rattle, and sway, create even more auditory and visual stimulation giving them more reasons to do it gain. Which is also great for improving their grasping skills and strength. BTY, this is also great for tummy time as well.

2nd stage is called Pop-Up Mesh Sides Surround Baby. That’s when the ball pit comes in. You can have both, the toys above their head along with the balls.

At this stage, you can have both, the toys above their head along with the balls.

It comes with 40 colorful balls. They are made from soft plastic and fit perfectly baby’s hands. Moreover, the balls are stored in the turtles head, so you don’t have to worry about the balls being all over the place or misplaced.

Ideal for babies who can sit up and have a good time enjoying themselves in a safe little environment. Don’t get me wrong that doesn’t mean that you can not use the pit ball for a LO. By all means, you can have a baby who can not sit up in this gym surrounded by the balls and having fun watching them enjoy themselves. Just don’t bury them in the balls 🙂 just kidding 🙂 It is so versatile that it comes down to how you want to use it to make your LO busy and happy.

The toys dangling from all of the loops and the colorful balls surrounding them will keep them busy and entertaining while you’re busy doing something else. The only downside is that they’ll ask for your attention to show off how ‘smart’ they are managing all the overhead toys and balls at the same time. I’m sure that this will create some priceless/unforgettable moments in your life as your baby grows.

3rd stage is called Sit and Play Ball Pit. Perfect when your baby is a BIG boy or girl :-). And are no longer interested in ‘baby’ toys.

So at this stage, most probably the overhead toys will go to some sort of storage room. That’s what will eventually happen to most baby toys. But the good news is that even though they may not be interested in the overhead toys. You can still use it for a toddler.

For some reasons, they never get tired of the colorful ball. Trying to arrange them the way they want. If that is not enough, you can always put inside other toys that they like. So, either way, it is a win-win for both parents and the baby/toddler.

One of the few so-called baby gadgets that in fact will last and you and your baby will enjoy using it. From newborn to toddlerhood.

Besides play, it is perfect “tummy time.” Although it doesn’t come with a tummy pillow, you can just roll up a blanket under your baby, and it will work great. And if the baby is fussy, the colorful balls provide perfect distraction:-) Also a great safe place for occasional naps, and when they wake up, they’ll have the exciting toys hanging above them look at. As usual, you must take normal precaution and have your baby at your sight to ensure that they are safe.

Just remember that it does not come with any musical toys or flashing light. But you can always buy some extra and hang them on the extra loops.

It’s well built and will handle very well grabbing, kicking, rolling or any abuse from a baby.

Size: It’s not big, but big enough to keep your LO in a safe area and have them enjoy it. The dimensions of the mat are around: 29 inches or 75 cm in diameter. Not huge but big enough to create a safe baby play area. Perfect for those with limited space. But if you need something bigger take a look at our reviews of baby play yards.

Portable: It’s lightweight and easy to move between rooms. The arches with the toys detach easily too. Even though the turtle head that holds the balls is not detachable from the mat, it does fold very nicely and takes little storage space. So traveling with it is possible.

Care: The manufacturer recommends spot cleaning only with a cloth and air dry. The fabric is super easy to clean and dries fast.

All in all great concept and a great activity gym. Adorable and very functional. Highly recommend to any mom or someone who is looking for a great gift to give to someone who is expecting or already has a baby. It works great a boy or girl, and you and your child will truly enjoy it for years to come.

Fun, Educational and Engaging

Fisher-Price Kick and Play Piano Baby Gym is another excellent choice that’s colorful, exciting and more importantly stimulating. A baby play gym that will grow with your baby until they are much older. Furthermore, since it can be used in a number of different ways it will help the baby develop their sensory and motor skills. Ideal for teething too. The toys hang quite close to the baby’s face so they can grab and play with them. Or you can rearrange them further away to make it more exciting and challenging.

There are many different ways to use it and keep it interesting as your baby grows.

Excellent baby play gym for a baby who lays on their back. There are a lot of toys to look at. The toys are just at the right distance from the body so he or she can learn to reach for and grasp. If they get bored, you can rearrange them. Have them higher or lower. And it has extra links that allow you to add your baby’s favorite toys too.

Once your baby is strong enough and starts kicking. They have that piano to kick at the end to have even more fun time. The toys, piano, and bright colors are fantastic and will keep your LO busy for a long time. Giving you some ‘hands-free’ moments knowing that they are safe and having fun.

Perfect for tummy time. Your baby will enjoy exploring and looking at all of the animals printed on this activity mat. Moreover, they can still play with the toys above them and have a fun time with the piano. The piano will entertain them from the moment they can kick to when they can walk and take it along with them.

Ideal for a baby who is learning to sit up. When they start to sit up the overhead toys serve as a reward for sitting up longer and longer without the baby realizing what’s going on. And once again, as they get stronger the piano that flips to lay flat gives them another incentive to be independent and strong without realizing it.

Wonderful for a new talker. The toys and the baby activity mat are so colorful and fun to interact with helping the baby to start to learn animals names and colors!

Great for teething too. They’ll always find a favorite toy to nibble on while looking at the other things this baby play gym has to offer. Once again, that gives you plenty of time to do other things while your teething LO is busy taking care of their own business 🙂 To be honest, it won’t work with every baby as each of them has unique needs but this activity gym gives you plenty of opportunities to have a baby enjoying themselves.

The piano is cute, engaging and fun. Aside from the toys and colorful activity mat the piano is an icing on the cake 🙂 It will keep your child entertain from the moment they can kick it to when they are able to sit and walk. It switches from vertical to horizontal very easily to accommodate your growing child. In fact, they can even detach it and take it with them as they start to explore the house. To keep it interesting, it has an option to play notes or songs when the keys are pressed.

We all know how baby toys can be annoying. If this is the case, you have two settings for the volume. So it doesn’t drive you nuts. Which is a really nice touch.

The activity mat is very easy to clean. It is machine washable, or you can wipe it off. Which is a huge plus in many parents book. Even after multiple washes, it looks like a brand new.

Lightweight and easy to travel with. Easy to move around from room to room. You can also hide it under the crib or in a closet. Or just place it in the corner of your living room or nursery, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space.

Safe and sturdy. It can take all kind of abuse from a baby. No matter how strong they are, all the pieces will stay in place and perform as intended.

Very easy to assemble too. It should not take more than 5 minutes.

Age range. You can start using it anytime. As your baby grows they’ll discover different aspects this activity gym has to offer.

Overall all across the board an excellent product. Perfect for anyone who is looking to not only give their child some fun time but have something that’s engaging and educational. Very interactive and well made. The toys are stimulating enough to keep your baby’s attention. Sturdy enough to handle being thrown or pulled on by your LO.

The mat is soft, bright and colorful. The toys hang at the right height for the little arms to reach and play with them. And they love the little mirror and talking to their reflection.

The piano will be their favorite part. Babies love kicking! And to get a musical respond to their kicking is just awesome! Each time they kick, they are being rewarded with interesting noise/sound. It’s like music to a baby ear 🙂 Can’t get better than that. Worth the price for the entertainment and educational value. Furthermore, it will give your arms a much need break. And enough time to do something special for yourself!